11/13/24 Winter on the Farm
Winter on the Farm
As we look outside, it certainly feels like late autumn and early winter. The days are shorter. There’s a frost in the morning. On the farm we’ve transitioned our work day later, and now it’s sunset as we leave at 4:30 pm, we’re in a north-south valley with high west slope and trees so our sun sets even earlier.
Halloween, the Day or the Dead and Samhain (Celtic) are the cross quarter holidays between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice. To us, this marker of season reflects more of what we see and feel. Although on our calendar Winter Solstice is the “beginning of winter” for us farmers who depend on the light it feels like the middle of winter. Just days after Winter Solstice we start seeding our first new year Broccolis, Cauliflowers, Flowers and even Tomatoes!
So here we are in winter! What’s different about the farm in this time of year? Not only is it chillier with more rain, but importantly plant growth is slowing down with decreased sunlight. Our last big push of late winter light greens have gone in. We will continue to plant all winter (especially in the hoop houses) but it’s hard for plants to get started when it’s so dark.
Cover Crops are an exception. Just like the grasses of Norther California winters, they germinate happily. We are in full swing of getting our Cover Crops established. We have 24 beds of cover crops in (see 10/30 Newsletter for more) and another 24+ to go, many of which will go in later this week (some as I write this to get in before today’s rain).
Our hoop houses are in full swing. Today you’re getting Arugula or Elegance light greens from them and more delicious soft greens are coming! Our new Caterpillar tunnel (the Cat) is now fully planted, and we’re planting the last three beds that had summer crops this week. Less than a 1/10 of our bed space on the farm is in hoop houses but it is the most intensive.
Winter Projects are in full swing. Thus far, not only have we built the Cat but we’ve changed some fences for easier access to our hoop houses, taken out large swaths of Blackberry/Rose and started pruning our hedgerows, prepped for fixing two other hoop houses and maybe the greenhouse, removed the old chicken run and are designing the space for more parking and storage, done research on a dry, bio filtration toilet that we’re hoping to replace our conventional porta potties, reorganized the nursery including removing an old structure that was no longer usable, and we’re continuing today with digging some trenches to keep crops in our hoop houses more dry during heavy rains and we have a full list!
Winter CSA
Next week, November 20th is our last weekly CSA for 2024!
Below is our schedule.
Note: Santa Rosa Every-Other-Week Members will have a break in the schedule. This is the last week and then 12/4.
Our two Optional Holiday Boxes this year will be:
Tuesday, November 26th
Monday, December 23rd
These dates you will have the option to order an Add-On ONLY box to help with your Holiday Cooking and we will have a lot on the Add-On lists! You’ll receive and email with instructions the week prior.
Speaking of Add-Ons, we’re starting to get more of our storage crops on the Add-On list for you!
Here is our Winter CSA Schedule for all CSA members:
November: 20th (last weekly box!),
Tues 26th Optional Holiday Box,
December: 4th, 18th, Mon 23rd Optional Holiday Box
January: 8th, 22nd
February: 5th, 19th
March: 5th, 19th
April: 2nd, 16th and likely weekly (based on winter weather
Produce Notes & Recipes
This Week’s Box
Arugula (Classic) OR Elegance Mustard Mix (Family)
Brussels Crown Greens
Pea Shoots
Broccoli (SR) OR Cauliflower (WC)
Beets (Worker Bee)
Chesnok Red Hard Neck Garlic
Family: Leeks (Worker Bee) & Escarole
We’re excite to have several new winter products for you (and wait until you see next week’s box!). Instead of a lettuce head, you all have a bag of light greens: Arugula for Classic Boxes and Elegance Mustard Mix for Family Boxes (as they had Arugula last week). Elegance is a mix of different tender mustards with a range of colors including red bok choi, mizuna, leaf broccoli, frill mustard and more. Use it to make a mustardy salad that has a little kick just like Arugula.
Arugula/Mustard Salad with Pea Shoots (acoupleofcooks.com)
8 cups fresh spring greens (arugula, mizuna, red lettuce, etc)
1 cup pea shoots
1 cup edamame (or fresh peas)
1 handful fresh mint (optional)
1/2 cup walnuts
Parmesan cheese
Dressing: 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs Maple Syrup (or honey)
¼ tsp salt
6 Tbs olive oil
Wash and dry the greens and pea shoots. If using frozen edamame, steam the edamame for about 3 to 4 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Cut the mint into thin strips (chiffonade).
In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the walnuts, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 3 to 4 minutes. Make sure to watch them constantly so they do not burn.
If making your own vinaigrette: whisk together vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and salt in a medium bowl until will combined. Then gradually whisk in olive oil 1 Tbs at a time until an emulsion forms.
Serve, place the greens in serving bowls or plates. Top with pea shoots, edamame, mint, shavings of Parmesan cheese, and toasted walnuts. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and top with fresh ground pepper.
We are excited to have this winter’s first Pea Shoots! You will see these often in the winter as a bit of something vibrant! Pea Shoots, also known as Pea Sprouts, just take 2-3 weeks to grow. Having the energy of a young plant (and you’re getting all of the plant except the roots). They are an excellent source of micronutrients. 100 g of pea shoots (a little under what you get in your CSA) contains 4 grams protein, 267% of your vit K, 76% of your vit C, 43% of your vit A plus 23-37% of your manganese, vit E and folate.
We found interesting recently that Hmong immigrants are largely credited with introducing Green Pea Shoots into the American culinary scene. Thank you!
Here are some eating ideas:
Topping salads: goes great with some citrus tang link the below meyer lemon vinaigrette,
With Napa Cabbage or Bok Choi as a salad, you could try your stir-fry mix as a salad with them,
On sandwiches: I often make my kids cream cheese and pea shoot bagels for lunch or add shoots to a deli sandwich,
In smoothies: in our house we add pea shoots to both fruit or green smoothies (some of our favorite greens are bok choi, tokyo bekana and tat soi).
They can be stir-fried but they reduce down tremendously,
Add to pasta with veggie broth, peas, garlic, lemon juice and parmesan,
Top warm dishes including lentil dishes, stir-fries, soups and more!
Another new item is Garlic! Last year was the first year in over a dozen that we grew Garlic. It is such a long crop that we actually just planted our 2025 crop last week (before giving them out to you this year!). This is a Chesnok Red Hardneck Garlic. We got the seeds (cloves) last year from friends that are new to farming in Sonoma County but currently the farmers at Summerfield Waldorf School. Now this year, it did so well we not only planted more but also purchased soft neck Inchelium seed and planted those.
Back to the Chesnok, Chesnok Red is a Hard Neck, that means it gives us Scapes in the spring (remember those?). They are a purple heirloom cultivar (also called Shvelisi) from the country of Georgia. They have a robust flavor and buttery texture that hold up well during cooking and is well-rated for baking or roasting (check out this recipe). Yes, the cloves can sometimes be a little pink, nothing wrong if you see this.
We have a couple more items from Worker Bee Farm this week. Again, this helps this small, organic farmer in Freestone sell the last of his produce for the year and it means that our crops are being held both for farmers’ market and for you later in the season (everything holds this time of year). It also means you get a little more diversity than we alone can provide. This week we have Beets as well as the Leeks for Family boxes from Worker Bee. The Beets are good looking classic reds with nice tops! And the Leeks are something we just got too frustrated at and stopped growing a couple years ago. Cut off the green stem and use white section in sautés, soups and very similarly to onion.
Lastly, we have Brussels Crowns, these are the Brussels Greens at the tops of the plants. We anyway top the plants so that they put their energy into making Brussels Sprouts, but here we’re taking more - use these like the Brussel Greens we had last month (like collards) see 10/23 newsletter.